Dollhouse Halloween Short Story
by RomanceAnd2ndChances
Summary: Ally Dawson didn't know what to expect when she got the Melanie Doll delivered to her house on midnight. She always thought that her dolls created the perfect family. That is of course until she becomes a doll herself. Follow seven year old Ally as she learns the hidden secrets behind the glistening walls of her dollhouse. Coming this Halloween!
1. Prelude: Costume Hunting

**Happy Halloween Everybody. Here is the story I have promised you. Dollhouse!  
>Please Follow, Favorite &amp;or Review for this story won't be completed today.  
>-RomanceAndSecondChances<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Prelude: Costume Hunting<strong>

The fallen red leaves from nearby maple trees drift through the windy road of Greenville's downtown as the once rowdy streets come back to life after a good night's rest. Each citizen in this small town takes their time to walk around the narrow streets of the shopping center as their eyes look straight into the window of the nearest small local markets, and shops around them. Each rectangular window displays the latest advertisement for Halloween, but no one really ever stops to admire the setups of advertisement from each beauty work of art. Instead these citizens of this historical hometown continue to make their ways towards their nearest store. Meanwhile many mothers try their hardest to pry their children off from the nearby toy window display.

Over the years of living in this town called Crayon, I have come to notice that this small society loves to celebrate big events. And Halloween is no exception. Everywhere I would go my eyes could come in contact with joyous parents rushing their small children back towards their home. I can see the excitement in every single children's colored eyes succeeding in finding the costume of their dreams meanwhile their mothers help them cross the earthy streets as they make their way towards their home. As these families continue to leave the location, I feel someone's small hand gently tug on my right hand. My oval shape head snaps down towards my right side of my shoulder to see a little girl standing right next to me. This brunette girl of seven years old gives me a gleeful white smile as her hazel golden brown eyes widen with excitement. Slowly she skips around the cement sidewalks in her flat pink slippers as her yellow dress flows up and down from her movements. A smile comes upon my face as I walk my daughter towards the nearest shop.

The smell of freshly baked cookies catches our attention and I decided for us to stop by the nearest bakery for a snack. I gently pull my daughter towards the bakery and buy a couple of cookies. The tan skin tone girl lets out a squeal of happiness as an elderly woman behind the register hands the energetic girl a chocolate cookie. The classic brown color cookie with droplets of chocolate chips has only been in her hand for a while, and before she could grab a good hold of the circle shape sweet, she places it into her mouth. A giggle escapes from the girls anticipation as the Hershey chocolate favor invades her taste buds. My eyes give my daughter a scold for her actions meanwhile the elderly woman tells me not to worry about it and that the cookie is on the house.

A small smile comes upon my face as I decide to accept elderly woman's kind gesture. The woman gives my daughter one more smile before watching us walk out the bakery. We continued to walk around the place with smiles upon our faces as we continue our quest for the perfect costume for my daughter.

Three hours later and my daughter's face slowly falters. A concerned look comes upon my motherly face as my eyes look over towards her direction.

"Pumpkin what is wrong?" I state in a worrisome tone.

"Mama! We are never gonna find one." She states in a frustrated tone.

"Oh sweetheart, I am sure we will find it!" I exclaim in a reassuring tone.

"Do you think we are going to find the best costume ever?" The innocent girl states in a scared tone.

A huge reassuring smile comes upon my face as I respond back, "Yes Isabella! We will find the best costume for you sweetheart. And we are not going home until we find it."

"Yay! Oh thank you Mommy! I still just can't believe that Halloween is coming." Isabella exclaims in a joyous tone.

My brown eyes soften up a bit as I look over at my daughter with admiration. Everything in this moment feels is perfect until my eyes catch sight of the latest window display. My heart starts to rapidly speed up from seeing the object. The floral wallpaper, the small miniature furniture and dividers of each room causes the blood from my face to go down towards my feet. As I continue to look at the reflection I get lost in my own thoughts. The sounds of the busy traffic disappears from my mind as my eyes stare straight at my own reflection in the window display. A woman with brunette curly hair, pale white skin and dark brown eyes see a womanly figure staring right back at me. But soon my vision blurs for a bit and a picture of my seven year old self from years ago looks back at me. A gasp of air comes through my thin pink lips as I try my hardest to erase those memories from a long time ago. Memories that send a chill down my spine and I would rather forget.

"Mommy!"

I hear Isabella shout towards me from afar but I couldn't snap out of my daze. Instead my vision begins to blur again as my dark past comes back to the surface of my mind.


	2. Chapter 1: Gift of the Melanie Doll

**Chapter 1: Gift of the Melanie Doll**

_October 1, 1998_

The temperature was extremely humid in Glenda Paradise and I remembered being seven years old. My parent's house was at the corner of Adele Ave and Timber Street and my family; The Dawson's were considered the most isolated family from our neighbors. Many of the houses in this location were seating on top of each other as the culdesac road engulfed my parent's old house.

It was the fall season and my brown eyes were spending the day watching our neighbor's front lawn from across the culdesac. From the front window of our house, I could see our neighbors joyfully spending their afternoon outdoors with their immediate family. Together as a whole, they were placing their Halloween ornaments up on their house. Each parent took on the task of making sure their house looked scary for the Halloween holiday, meanwhile their children would continue to work on their tasks until they were completed. Once our neighbor's house from across the street was finished with decorating, my brown eyes would see them sit down on the top porch steps and observe as they quietly watched the sunset.

During the holidays, my brown eyes would look over my neighbors' lawn as they decorated their house with the finest decorations of Canyon. Several moments would pass by before feeling a small smile formed upon my pink pouted lips as my oval shape eyes caught sight of their children fooling around with each other until the parents scold at them to behave. It was during these moments where I would find myself giggling at their responses. This genuine smile would stay on my child-like face until my brown eyes would see them hug as a family. It was at these times where a frown would form upon my lips as the joyous view in sight would make my heart falter. When I was younger I wasn't sure why I felt this way. And I didn't know the reason why until after my parent's divorce.

A sigh of despair would come out through my thin small lips as my mind started to wonder as to why my parents were quietly spend so much alone time apart; rather than showing love and gratitude towards one another. It was always in the back of mind. And there is of course some times during the holidays where I would mentally compare my own parents with our neighbors from across the street.

Throughout life my parents never showed how much they love each other. Nor did they take the time to play with me. Instead I found my parents usually spending their days in different rooms. They were disconnected with each other and with me as well. And at this moment in time, my seven year old mind didn't really want to remember the last time they were in the same room. It wasn't a pretty sight and the verbal abuse was pretty much the only way my parents could talk to one another. It is sad and depressing but it was my reality.

My thoughts of those days were interrupted when an unexpected sound came from our front door. The loud knocking sound entered my small sensitive ears at around nine o'clock at night. The constant sound echoed through our house until I heard one of my parents shouting at the one other to answer the door. I knew it was at this time because my body started to feel my heavy eyes going droopy. But just like any child my age, I fought my sleepiness mode in order to stay awake.

My small narrowed feet stayed put on my spot in front of the window as my head turned fully over towards the direction of the front door. Soon I heard my father's footsteps thumping through the hallway of our living before seeing his thin figure in front of the white painted wooden door. His slim tan face turned towards my direction before noticing my curious small figure.

Slowly I see the long fingers from my father's right hand wrap around the cheap plastic door knob meanwhile his eyes watched me carefully. My vision stays on my father's dark brown eyes before looking over at his wavy hair. Instantly I smiled back at him as I waited for him to answer the door.

"Ally! What are you doing still up, sweetheart. I thought you would be in bed already." My father states in bewilderment.

My mouth goes wide open before closing it again. My small ears picked up the sound of stress coming from his calm voice and slowly guilt overpowers my body. In that second of silence, I was trying to think of an answer, but came up with nothing. And so I decided to keep quiet and turn my attention back towards the front window again. My father lets out a sigh of frustration due to my lack of communication before hearing him turn the door knob to the right. A crack sound came from the sudden movement of the door opening meanwhile the bottom of the door swipes over the carpet flooring. I was close to looking over at my neighbor's lawn until a sudden noise caught my attention.

"What on earth this!" I heard my father exclaimed.

The response made my mind turn towards curiosity as I found myself turning to face my father's direction again. This time a small smile appeared upon my face meanwhile my brown eyes looked closely into my father's strong hands. In his hands my eyes noticed a small Barbie doll box. My thick brown colored eyebrows rose up in confusion as my mind looked over at the gift. The box looked just like an ordinary Barbie box. But for some odd reason this one had no words written in the back of the box.

My seven year old mind never really took this as a caution sign. And so I remembered putting my small hands up in front of me as I shouted out in excitement from seeing the doll.

"Huh! It looks like one of our neighbors got you this Barbie doll!" My father states softly towards himself.

I cut my father off from his rambling by asking in a curious tone "Daddy what's her name?"

Slowly my eyes saw my father coming over towards my direction before seeing him kneeling down in front of me. Gently my father handed me the light pink box without saying a word. Instead, I could see his brown eyes twinkle from my excitement as he settled down on top of the tile floor.

"I don't know pumpkin! Why don't we sound it out together?" My father stated in a kind tone.

Enthusiastically I stated back, "Okay daddy! It looks like the first two letters are M and E. Would that be ME?"

In this moment, I remembered hearing my seven year old self asking my father this question with a troublesome look upon my face. My father just smiled at me for my attempted response before slowly feeling his strong arms wrap around my waist. Once my father had a secure hold of me, he moved my small body closer to his lap and allowed me to seat on top of him. By this time he was looking down at me with a proud expression upon his face as I heard him respond back.

"You are very close pumpkin. But that isn't really it! How about this, add the L and then sound it out."

My worrisome brown eyes looked up at him with a smile upon my face as I heard myself state back, "M-E-L… Mel!"

My father cheered from my response before hearing him state back, "Good job Ally! Mel! Now the rest of the word is like your aunt's name. Do you know which one I am talking about?"

My cheerful eyes looked down at the box again to see the name written in big pink printed letters. This time I nodded my head yes in excitement before feeling my father giving me a kiss on my cheek.

"A-N-I-E…. Anie" I stated back in triumph.

This time my father didn't cheer. Instead I remember hearing a female's voice responding back towards my comment.

"Good job Ally! That is right, An-ie. Just like your Aunt Annie! "

Instantly my head whipped over towards the direction of the voice, to see a thirty year old woman and she is standing near the kitchen table. It was at this time where I distinguished this person as my mother Penny Dawson. My mother's brown eyes were looking at me with happiness with a pleased smile was plastered upon her thin pale face. I don't remember what she wore that night but I remember some traits of hers. I believe the most memorable detailed I had of my mother was her reddish-brown curly hair. In the back of my mind, I would remember it being tucked into a ponytail meanwhile her pale white skin tone hands were laced around each other.

"Mommy! Someone got me this doll!" I stated towards her with excitement.

"That is great to hear sweetheart! But it is your bedtime now!"

I remember my mother stating towards me in a calm tone. In the moment a frown appeared upon my thin face from hearing her response, but I obliged to her request.

My small little hands placed the doll box on the floor as I stood up from sitting position. My father gave me another quick peck on the cheek before helping me off his lap.

Once my bare feet were able to balance on their own, my father got himself up. My father then took the time to look down at me again.

A beaming smile forms upon this thin lips before hearing him state in cheerful tone, "Good job pumpkin! Now what is her name again?"

This time I shouted out the word "MELANIE!"

My father applauded from my response before seeing him pick up The Melanie Doll. In the moment I was expecting him to hand over the doll, but instead he hesitated from the look of the doll. I remembered my big brown eyes looking up at my father with confusion as I waited for him to take action.

"Daddy! Is there something wrong?" I stated in a scared tone.

My father didn't respond back. Instead I saw him analyzing the doll. Odd was one word to describe his reaction. It was a mixture of confusion and fear written on his face. I didn't understand why but later on I would come to understand his concerned look.

As few moments pass by before noticing that my father wasn't sure what to do.

He gave the box one more glance before hearing him state back. "Pumpkin! Why don't you go to your room and I will be right up in a second to tell you a story."

My eyes looked at my father in happiness before stating back, "Daddy aren't you going to give me the Melanie Doll?"

"I- hum- Ally sweetheart, I am going to put her with the rest of your dolls. Is that okay?" My father asks with a smile upon his face.

My head nodded in agreement before finding my bare feet walking up the set of stairs and into my small ten by ten bedroom walls.


	3. Chapter 2: The Dollhouse

** Chapter 2: The Dollhouse**

My favorite toy growing up was my dollhouse. I remember in perfect detail the small dollhouse being a small pink sort of house with two levels, two balconies, two doors, and four rooms. None of the rooms were the same size. Nor did they have the same material of flooring, but I loved that modern dollhouse with all of my heart.

My mother once told me that I would always have a smile upon face as my small hands took initiative to place the plastic miniature furniture sets into their original places. She also stated that my excitement of receiving the dollhouse as a birthday gift from my Aunt Annie has impacted a good part of my life. In fact, my mother recalls the pleading look I gave my father when I asked him to open the dollhouse right away. A small smile would always appear upon my face from hearing her tale as my mother would continue to go through my childhood memories. My ears can still hear her chuckle as she clearly states through the phone that I got so mad when my father said _no_. But in the end, I was thrilled about receiving my dollhouse.

Now I don't remember much of that year. But I do remember the many endless memories I had in the attic room playing with my dollhouse.

In between the four years of having the dollhouse, my family and friends had bought me. The first doll I received was when I was four years old. It was given to me by parents on Christmas Eve. It was a skinny housewife from the fifties and she was the picture perfect wife. I remember her wearing a one piece evening dress with a pencil skirt tight style bottom. To go with the dress, her small feet had a pair of black high heel shoes meanwhile a small red colored slanted-crown hat was placed upon her head. The dress was a light pink color and hand long sleeves. I remember my brown eyes glistened with happiness as my eyes took in the reddish-brown hair and the small smile my doll had.

I received my second doll at the age of six. It was given to me by my future best friend's mother Mrs. Moon. It was a business man from her old collection of toys. The blonde woman stated towards me that she knew how much I loved my dollhouse and that she has decided to give me the doll as a thank you gift for being her son Austin Moon's friend. She also said that I needed a male doll as he belongs somewhere special like my dollhouse. I still remember the big shy smile I gave her as she told me the tale about the doll. In the meantime of her tale, my eyes wandered down towards the businessman. The man's tan white skin body is wearing a tailored black suit and I remember him wearing a set of black dressy shoes. Once Mrs. Moon had finished her story, I gave her a thank you hug before taking another good look at the businessman's face and noticed a set of clear glasses.

The final doll I received was this year. The doll was given to me by my best friend since diapers, Patricia De La Rosa. It was a teenage boy and he looked a bit too old fashion for me to recognize. I can recall the confused facial expression upon my face as I asked my mother why the doll was wearing a piece of string across the upper part of his body. My mother let out a chuckle from my reaction before hearing her explained to me that the boy is wearing suspenders on top of his white long sleeve shirt. A full on bewilderment look took over my face expression meanwhile my ears strained to hear that before belts there were suspenders and the object was used to help people with supporting their pants. Once the explanation made sense to me, I called Trish's house phone and thanked her mother for the gift. Mrs. De La Rosa was pleased with my call and wished me once more a Happy Birthday.

It has been a few months since I got the teenaged male doll and I have finally decided on where I would place each doll after playtime.

The housewife was placed by the double sink in the Kitchen area of the first level. I placed the woman there because she reminded me so much of my mother. If there is one thing that always stayed in the back of my mind, it is how my mother would spend her days in our old home. There was one location where she would end her days and I would recall the daydream expressions she had hold on to during her stay there. It was near the kitchen sink. I remember seeing my mother's thin hands preoccupied with washing the daily usage of her dishes as she tried to make everything seem fine. To keep up with the illusion that it was and her marriage with my father wasn't falling apart.

The housewife wasn't the only doll in the kitchen. The businessman is in seated behind the housewife and is on top of the four chairs in front of the squared size table. His arms were facing up on top of the decorated table setup as both of his hands hold onto a small miniature newspaper. I placed him in that position because my brown eyes could recall the times where my father would look over the news before going to bed.

I know it sounds like a ridiculous scenario. The reason why I state this is because my father doesn't own a business suit. Nor does he work at some huge successful business place. Instead my father is a middle class man who worked most of his life in a music store that he owns at the nearest mall. Still that's where the man seemed to fit, and that is where he would stay. In my eyes the businessman would always represent my father. The whole situation is still hard to explain but I guess it was my way to cope with the imperfectness inside my family.

Anyways back to my story...

The teenage boy was a bit hard to place because I was an only child growing up. Plus I didn't really play with the plastic doll boy unless Austin would come over. And so overtime I decided to place him in the second floor in the plain blue bedroom that is located on the right side of the dollhouse.

Now there is only one room that wasn't touched within those five years. It was a small room located next to the blue room. This room was a pink bedroom with floral wallpaper, which covered three- fourths of the visible walls inside the room. I recall there being only a wooden dresser and a twin wooden bedframe inside the room. Both miniature furniture sets were painted in white and the whole floor was covered by a piece of cream color carpet. The room was located on the second floor and was sort of connected to the large blue room.

My mother once told me that this room was a girl's bedroom and she has promised me that we would one day go downtown and buy a small barbie. Sadly my mother was a busy writer and wasn't able to spare some time out of the house. And so when I received the unexpected Melanie doll, I was thrilled to finally be able to play in that room.

My brown eyes can still remember the way The Melanie Doll looked. The doll was wearing a cute little blue jumper, her accessories were those found in any doll box but she had this weird necklace upon her neck that seemed to catch my attention. I don't remember much of the necklace except that it had two plastic small arms and each hand was holding onto a pair of small blue eyes. In my mind the doll looked creepy. And I recall Trish telling me once over our playtime that the Melanie Doll looked sort of dark and depressing. My seven year old mind agreed with Trish's statement because there were some odd features The Melanie Doll had that made her unique from any of the other dolls I have ever seen in my lifetime. And one good example would be her hair.

When I received The Melanie Doll, she had crisscrossed braids. They looked like any regular braids but those thin pieces of hair strings were caging in two sets of high ponytails. The left side of her hair was a normal dark brown color meanwhile the other side of her hair was a cotton pink color. The one thing I recall is the weirded out expression I had upon my face as my eyes noticed the dreadful expression upon her tan skin tone face. Her hot pink colored lips were slightly open in frowning expression and her eyes looked straight ahead and hollow, unfulfilled, really just bored.

I remember having a huge smile upon my face as I came upon a small version of pink hairspray and a big bow inside the Melanie Doll's box. In that decade bows were considered in and I loved the idea of wearing bows upon a person's hair. So by the end of the week, I placed the big pink bow on top of her ruthless curly hair before settling her down for the night.

Over the first two weeks of having my new doll it was great. I was able to get rid of the strange necklace and change the doll into a cuter light pink doll dress. The only thing that took a long time to change was her hairstyle. It took about three days before I was able to remove all of the braids from her hair. And after getting rid of the two ponytails from her original hairstyle, I started to see similarities between the Melanie doll and I.

Both Melanie and I appeared to be miserable. Throughout the days of playing with her, I became more shocked to see how she reflected my very own feelings. It was like her facial expressions showed a far off expression upon her brown eyes as a small frown covered her thin lips. Melanie's expressions weren't always like this. There were times though rare that whenever I was happy she was able to portray those feelings by holding a small smile upon her white skin tone face.

It was kind of hard to explain the strange situation and so when I told both of my friends about it, neither of them believed me. Trish laughed at my so called story before stating towards me that I was imagining it all. Austin told me that I was watching too much TV. After talking to them, I decided to keep those experiences I had inside my dollhouse towards myself.


	4. Chapter 3: Role of the Perfect

**Chapter 3: Role of the Perfect Family**

Ever since I was little… I wanted the Perfect Family.

The type of family where everyone could talk to each other; without having to shove everything they felt down each other's throats.

As I mentioned before… my mother and father weren't the best parents when it comes to quality family time. I wasn't sure if it was because of my father's endless business schedules at his music store or the fact that my own mother felt like her husband was never there for her anymore. Whichever was the cause of their fall out, they never came to the realization that their torn up relationship was the reason why I spent my entire childhood in the attic.

My dolls were the only objects that knew how I felt. To me the dollhouse represented my home life and my dolls created my vision and desire to be the perfect family, but ultimately it was just an un-idealistic hope. Each one of them shared a part of my small heart and eventually I had given each of them a name. The fifties style housewife was named after my first caretaker Elena, the businessman was named after my uncle Erin and the teenage boy was named after my favorite fictional character Dickon. The memories of playing with them are still freshly engraved into the back of my mind. But the situation I went through is one that I would want and wish to erase. The reason why I state this is because my seven year old brown eyes witnessed the secrets hidden behind the glistening walls of my seemingly perfect dollhouse. The dollhouse was once a playful game of innocence and over the weeks turned into evilness.

**_"Hey girl, open the walls, play with your dolls. We'll be a perfect family". - Melanie Martinez_**

October 13, 1998 was when it all started. My daily routine of eating breakfast at the kitchen table was like any other normal day. But once my bare feet walked down the stairs of the attic room it was a different story. My mind knew the positions places for each of my dolls. And so when eyes saw that they weren't in their original positions, I had a gut feeling that my life was going to change.

The housewife was two inches away from the double sink and her face was full of tears. Meanwhile the businessman was seated down in the farthest chair in the kitchen table. My brown eyes analyzed the whole scene in front of me before running up the stairs in fear. The reason why I reacted this way was because nobody has ever gone down here except for when Steph and James come over. And so to see my dolls in these new positions, I knew that something wasn't right.

I recall my small feet bolting up the stairs as my petite body tried to escape the room. My bare feet didn't stop its movement until I found one of my parents. My mother wasn't there on that day and so I went up towards my father's bedroom. I explained to him that I believed that my dolls have come to life. My father wasn't sure how to respond back towards my story. I knew because I remember seeing the shocked look on his tiresome face before hearing him state in a calm tone that I was imagining things and that it wasn't possible. My gut didn't agree with his statement and for some odd reason I felt like I needed him to go downstairs to check it out. And so I did the one thing that I knew could get his attention.

"Daddy please come down and see for yourself. I swear I am not making this up!" I pleaded in fearsome tone.

My father looked back up from his seating position on his arm chair before stating back in a doubtful tone. "Ally! Pumpkin… you probably didn't put them away last night."

My head nods in disagreement as I respond back. "NO! Daddy I always put them away."

My father let out a sigh from my persistence before seeing his right hand go up towards the bridge of his nose in frustration. My normal heartbeat started to speed up as my body started to stiffened from not seeing him move. At that moment I thought he wouldn't go downstairs and check, but I wrong. My eyes suddenly saw my father placing his hands upon the green color arms of his chair. Each one of the fingers from his hands got a good grasp of material before seeing him pull up his heavy body from his seating position.

"Alright Pumpkin! Let us go and see your dolls." He stated with determination behind his tired some tone.

A small smile of happiness appeared upon my face as my left hand went up for my father to grab onto. Once our hands were fully laced together, my body pulled us towards the attic's direction. My heart started to speed up more as our bodies reached the entrance of the attic. At this time I recall stopping for a second as my eyes looked straight into the attic in terror. My father seemed to have noticed how I felt and decided to lightly squeeze our now connected hands to calm me. I looked over at him with gratitude as we continued on our request.

My mind went into scattered mode when we reached the bottom of the staircase. A gasp of shock came through my thin lips as my eyes took in the sight in front of us. Right there inside the dollhouse were my doll but they were back in their original positions.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw my father looking at me with concern upon his face as I tried to comprehend what was going on.

"Daddy! They weren't like that earlier!" I stated in a tone of complete disbelief.

My father let out a sigh from my statement before hearing him stated in a defeated tone. "I truly thought Miss. De La Rosa and Mr. Moon were messing with my head when they mentioned your crazy tale about the dollhouse. But I guess they were right."

My lips started to tremble from his harsh comment towards me as my heart broke from his lack of trust. I remember my body turning back at my father before feeling his right hand slowly slipping away from my grasp.

"Daddy! Please believe me." I stated in a strained tone.

My father hesitated on my final statement as silence filled in the room. A painful eye expression appeared inside his eyes and that was when I realized I was alone in this. No one was ever going to believe me. Slowly I recall moving away from my father and the dollhouse before running up the stairs and into my bedroom.

My father always believed in anything I told but that night devastated me. It was like he lost all faith in me and that hurt.

**_"No one ever listens, this wallpaper glistens. One day they'll see what goes down in the kitchen". - Melanie Martinez_**

Over the passing weeks my parents were having casual conversations about my reaction. They tried to talk quietly with one another. But my sensitive ears could overhear everything single word they said towards each other from the crack underneath my bedroom door frame.

"Wait she thought the dolls in the dollhouse were alive." My mother stated in disbelief from the kitchen room area.

My father's footsteps pace around a bit before hearing him respond back. "That isn't all of it Penny."

My mother lets out a frustrated sigh meanwhile hearing my father continue on.

"Austin and Trish have told their parents that Ally has recently seen the Melanie Doll reflecting her feelings through face expressions."

My mother questioned back in a worried some tone, "Lester…do you think it has to do with our lack of attention we give Ally?"

"I don't know Penny! Ally hasn't acted like this until she got that stupid doll." My father stated in anguish tone.

My mother stopped him from saying anything more. It was a bit hard to hear her response but I heard her state in a deadpan tone. "Lester! You are now giving me crazy talk! A doll can't be the blame for our daughter's strange behavior. The Melanie Doll is just a doll."

My father lets out a sigh before stating back. "You are right. This is probably just a phrase."

At this moment I blocked out the rest of their conversation meanwhile my eyes looked straight up to popcorn celling. Tears splattered down my face as I silently sobbed myself to sleep.


	5. Chapter 4: Please Wake Up

**Chapter 4: Please Wake Up**

****October 19, 1998****

Things have gotten worse for me since the accidents with the dolls occurred. Not only did I notice the small changes happening in the attic room. But I had this odd sense that my feelings were being replaced with someone else's feelings. In other words, these feelings were not my own. It was sort of hard to explain towards my parents whenever they asked if I was okay. But I do recall telling them that I felt like my hands and feet were being tied up by some sort of hard wire whenever I went to bed.

Neither of parents believed me. They told me that these feelings of mine were reversible and that they would disappear over a few days. But these strange sensations I had never did.

In fact, there were a few times where my body felt like it was being suffocated due to lack of oxygen. My eyes would close from the pain as I prayed to the person from up above to not let me die.

It had gotten so severe that Austin and Trish had witnessed my body fainting from time to time. These strange body reactions were rare but came whenever they pleased. The hardest part of the situation was that no one really knew what was wrong with me. During that time Austin and Trish's parents decided it would be best if they didn't come over. I was pretty much being isolated from my friends like I was some sort of freak.

According to my childhood best friends, their parents' thought I was coming down with something, and they didn't want their healthy children to catch the symptoms. And so when my parents heard about my situation, they decided to call up our doctor and asked him to come over. The lovely man agreed to go over towards our house and hoped that he could find what was wrong with me.

A dark skin tone gentleman came within the couple of hours and did his ritual checkup. The man found nothing wrong with me and that gave him some concern but he didn't show it. Instead he looked over at my parents before hearing his analysis.

"Well your daughter Allyson is a one healthy girl." He stated in a serious tone.

My mother looked bewildered from his statement before asking. "Doctor are you sure?"

My doctor nodded his oval shape head yes as he added on, "Mr. and Mrs. Dawson I am positive. However may I make a suggestion?"

Immediately my mother stated back, "Of Course Doctor!"

"The way you two talked about her symptoms… it looks like she has a dehydration problem. And if that is that case then this little one just needs a lot of rest and needs to drink lots of fluids."

My mother nodded in an understanding gesture meanwhile my father's concerned brown eyes made their way at towards my direction with fear written upon his face. My tired brown eyes just looked at him without emotion. I remember still being upset at my father for his last reaction and so I just kept to myself. It took a few more seconds of their conversation to go on before finding myself going into deep slumber.

**_"You don't hear me when I say, "Mom, please wake up. Dad's with a slut, and your son is smoking cannabis". – Melanie Martinez_**

A few seconds passed by before finding my drowsy eyes opening up again. This time my vision doesn't see the red colored walls of my bedroom. Instead they came face to face with some sort of old fashion floral wallpapered walls. My mind could recognize this room as the living room but my mind couldn't remember from where.

The living room had an old-fashioned television with antennas, a low rectangular table with a complete tea set and queen lounge bed-chair in a burgundy red color. My mouth went wide open when my eyes caught sight of a sleeping woman with red curly hair. Her body was facing up meanwhile her face was streaked with wet tears. My brown eyes remember taking a good look at the woman, and noticed that she was wearing a one piece light pink evening dress with a pencil skirt bottom. The woman's right arm was on top of her slim body meanwhile the long sleeve of the woman's left arm extended down towards the floor.

Slowly my body walked closer towards the woman's direction before seeing her young face. It was someone I could recognize. But I wasn't sure if it was just because of the red slanted-crown hat that she wore over her head. Whoever she was, I couldn't help but feel pity for her.

My eyes analyzed the woman's face before finding my eyes wondering down towards her left arm. There on the inside of her arm wrist was a black and white polka-dotted bow. I remember having them followed down this arm and ended up looking at an empty wine bottle. The tinted glass was hanging on a thread between the woman's grasp and the carpet floor and this sight sickened me. It was a horrific scene to witness for a seven year old, but I had no other choice but to continue to watch her.

"Mom please wake up!" My lips stated in a soft tone.

The woman doesn't stir for the moment.

"FOR FUCKEN SAKES! PLEASE WAKE UP!" I shout in a loud tone.

This time the woman wakes up from her slumber. She lets out a mummer from her lips before hearing my voice again.

"Dad will be here soon and he will be pissed if he found you drunk again!"

This time the woman's heavy eyelids open up. In an instant my eyes came in contact with her hazel light brown colored eyes. The woman scrunches up forehead for a second before seeing her hand let go of the wine bottle. The bottle hit floor before seeing it just rolled halfway through the living room.

"Shut up you piece of shit! You are giving me a fucken headache." The woman stated back in a drunken tone.

My two feet shifted from right to left before feeling some sort of material touching my legs. My eyes wanted to look down at my appearance but I couldn't. Instead my innocent eyes stayed on the woman in front of me.

This lack of control caused me to freak out and soon I felt my heart rapidly speeding up.

"Mom, Please. Dad said he will be here tonight."

The woman lets of a grunt as her fragile body got up from the sofa. Slowly she waltzes her way towards my direction.

"Why would Erin being coming? I bet he is happy being with that slut of his. And I should have shipped you off with the orphans in Blueberry Avenue when your father's friend told me too. You are just a waste of space in this family." She states towards me in a stern tone before moving away.

My body stands tall as I state back in calmly tone, "You don't mean that mother. Besides Dickson needs me!"

The woman rolls her eyes in annoyance before stating back." My son needs a shrink. Not some whiney baby!"

"Why do you drink if you know that it won't bring dad home?"

The woman stops her sudden movements from my sudden statement. Instantly her head turns to look at me with a dangerous expression upon her face. My eyes stayed glued on the woman before feeling her hand come in contact with my face. Smack went the sound as her hand comes in contact with my face. The woman gives me a devious smile from her actions before seeing the pain inside my brown eyes. My jaw clenches from the reaction as my hand slowly form into fists.

"Aw poor little Melanie Misses her father. How pathetic!"

The woman spats out towards me before seeing her hand about to rise up again. This time my body moves back in defense mode and the woman just laughs at my reaction.

"No! I just wish you could help us become that perfect family again." I state back in fearful tone.

The woman sobers up from my statement before thinking of an answer.

For a moment I thought she was going to ignore my comment and walk away. But her next actions proved me wrong.

Instantly my eyes saw her left hand go straight towards my stomach. A horrified face expression comes over my face from the sudden impacted before letting out a gasp. The woman lets out another chuckle from my reaction before seeing her stare at me with determination.

My body took a deep breath in and was about to get my breathing back to normal when her right heel stabbed my left foot.

The sudden pain shoots thought my body and soon I let out a cry of mercy. A smirk of a smile appears upon the woman's face from hearing my response. Meanwhile my body tries to remove my foot from her grasp. From my sudden movement, the woman decides to put more pressure on my foot before feeling her left foot hitting the back of my knees. This action causes my body to fall backwards and soon I felt my whole body being consumed by pain.

"We can never be the perfect family Melanie. So just get it through your head. Those fantasies of yours will never come true because no one can be perfect."


	6. Chapter 5: Brother's Problem

**Chapter 5: Brother's Problem with Cannabis**

**October 17 1998**

"It was just a nightmare pumpkin." My father stated towards me that night.

In that hour of the night I wanted to believe in his statement. But my skin could still feel the stinging sensation of being hit by the woman's touch.

It was crazy to hear my father's footsteps running up the stairs of the first floor when he heard my shrieking voice from the living room. And I had to admit it was funny to see him entering my bedroom with a bat in his hands. But to see the action of him carrying a baseball bat above his head; it made me feel protected and secured. I remember seeing his dark brown coffee colored eyes wandering around my room before noticing my sweaty body.

The worrisome look was written all over his face. And for once in my life I felt so guilty for being so harsh to him these past weeks. In that moment my father's last action was forgiven. For it was then that I realized that he truly did cared for me.

"Daddy, I am scared." I stated towards him through my sobs.

My father looked over at my direction with fear upon his eyes as he came closer towards my cold body. His strong warm arms were wrapped around my slim figure in a protecting way meanwhile my trembling body was in a seated position. The red bedcovers of my bed were tangled with my shaking body, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that the scene I witnessed was a nightmare. There wasn't much that happened that night. But that doesn't mean it was one only nightmare I had in that month alone.

After that nightmare my father had decided to take me with him to work the next day. I remember the happiness I felt when he broke the news to me.

"Ally, guess what pumpkin?!" My father started toward me as we sat down around the kitchen table

I pondered a bit before stating. "We are going to Pumpkin Feast!"

My father let out a chuckle from my response before responding back. "No sweetheart but I do have something better to tell you."

"What is it?" I asked with curiously behind my excited tone.

My father beamed a smile as he responded. "How would you like to spend some days at Sonic Boom?"

"Really Daddy! That is awesome." I stated in a gleeful tone.

My father nodded yes as he added. "Yes pumpkin. And maybe we can go to the movies afterwards. What do you say?"

I jumped up from my seat while my father took another bite of his cereal. He allowed me to sing out my excitement before telling me to go get ready.

During those days I was to enjoying a bit of freedom from the house. And my father was relieved to know that throughout the week I wasn't having anymore nightmares.

Nothing really happened throughout the week. It wasn't until my father asked my caretaker Elena to stay with me did my symptoms started up again. I recall my father stating that he had a music convention to go to and that he would return shortly after a week. Elena accepted the reason and she suggested that I spend a day in the attic.

It had been a week since I stepped foot in the room and so when I entered the darkened attic, a smile was plastered on my face. Elena had just tuned on the lights for me meanwhile my bared feet walked in a fast pace towards my dollhouse.

The smile I had upon my face soon falters when my brown eyes caught sight of the housewife. I closed my eyes shut as the imagines of the one piece evening dress with a pencil skirt bottom came back to me. Soon after closing my eyes, my breathing came out in deep breaths as my body went into complete shock mode. It was then did my mind distinguish the housewife as the woman from my nightmares. And when that revaluation came to me; my small body went unconscious.

**_"_****_Everyone thinks that we're perfect. Please don't let them look through the curtains". - Melanie Martinez_**

My eyes opened up again to find another person in front of me. Her once beautiful white skin tone face had many bruises from being beaten down. While her dark brown eyes looked straight back at me with sorrow filled in them. The girl's short curly hair was divided between the colors of a dark brown oreo color and a pink strawberry yogurt. Her brown eyes were brightened by an upper lid black color eyeliner and light blue eye-shadow. Her eyes continued to look at her face and saw that her right cheek had cupcake sprinkles in the colors of yellow, blue, pink and purple. Each color was smudged into her thin skin and it was stinging more than the other hit I felt from the other day.

My left hand went up to touch the person in front of me. I was hoping to embrace her in a hug but to my surprised my hands only felt the cold glass beneath my shaken warm fingertips. It was then that I realized that she was my own reflection. Her appearance was shown to me by an oval shape white dresser's mirror. My fearful eyes widened from the realization as my eyes caught sight of the furniture behind me. A painted white wooden bedframe, a white and pink floral wallpaper hangs over the walls of the bedroom. Just one look at this room and I had come with the realization that I was in the dollhouse.

BANG! BANG! The wall behind the dresser went as I felt my body jump up and down from its current position upon the dresser's chair. This unexpected sound caused my heart to speed up meanwhile my dark brown eyes wandered over towards the direction of the wall.

A gasp of terror came through my hot pink colored lips as my ears picked up the sound of harsh hitting from the other side. I recalled seeing the mirror vibrating along with the walls movement before hearing a person from the other side was yelling at the top of their lungs. My mouth stayed tightly shut meanwhile my heart tried to regain its normal heartbeat.

A few seconds went by before seeing my hands on top of dresser. Slowly my hands made their way towards the sides of the small single drawer dresser as my nose took in a deep breath. My hands grabbed a strong grip of the sides while I tried to compose myself. I stayed in this position for a few more seconds before hearing someone yell from downstairs. Instantly my body moves from its original position meanwhile my eyes looked up towards the frame of the dresser to see two big white roses and blue polka-dotted pink bow set in between the roses.

Automatically my body moves away from the dresser in concern. The makeup brushes, pink cover hairspray, the crystal ball and the two dolls heads with no eyes juggle a bit from my sudden movement and I stopped to check up on them. Soon my head turned towards the object as my body moves towards the entrance of my room. Once my eyes were sure that they won't fall off the dresser, I turned my attention towards the room next to mine.

From my vantage point I see a thin table with a grandfather clock, modern style lamp and the tip of world globe on top of the table. Instantly a strong smell of fruit enters my nose and I soon start coughing. A confused expression came upon my face as my mind tried to distinguish the substance in the air. My eyes saw the whole room being consumed with smoke but I didn't see the room burning. Instead I could see small cereal inside the air. The more I smelled the air, the more confused I became. Instantly my body got closer to the bedroom's entrance frame while my eyes looked over towards the direction of teenage boy.

Soon my eyes noticed the white buttoned down with black spenders. The boy's spenders were attached to a pair of khakis dress pants and his once slick brown hair is slowly unraveling. For a second the boy seemed to sense my presence and decided to turn his direction towards me. His brown eyes looked at me with no emotions evident in them while a dopey smile formed upon this medium size lips. My body went stiff as my eyes caught sight of a light green bud plant with a generous amount of crystals inside the palm of his hands.

"Dickon did Mom come in here yet?" I stated towards him while my eyes analyzed his body.

The boy's body tilted backward and forward as he left out a giggle from my question.

A sigh of frustration came through my lips while his reaction started to irritate me. For once I wanted him to answer my question and all he could think about is smoking this shit.

The boy just gives me a boyish smile from seeing me irritated as his right hand grabs hold of the green plant. In an instant my brown eyes saw him transform the plant into a thin roll of green substance. My eyes went wide-eyed as he took one side of the substance into his mouth and took a puff of it. Instantly fruit fills up the room in a form of smoke as I saw him crossing his thin arms around his broad chest.

"DICKON!" I yelled in a fearful tone before adding on in a concerned tone. "You shouldn't be using cannabis as a way to ignore your problems. Sooner or later they are going to send you to rehab if you keep on hitting the stupid walls."

Dickon took another puff of the substance as his eyes narrowed straight towards my face. He took a deep breath in of the smoke through his nose before hearing him speak up.

"She really put a nail on you this time! Huh! Mel?" The boy sarcastically states through his lips.

My brown eyes did a one-eighty roll before entering the bedroom. Dickon's gaze stayed upon my face as I started to walk towards his mattress. A navy blue blanket covers the twin size bed meanwhile a light blue pillow is placed on top of his dark brown head board.

"Don't change the subject D! And besides it isn't something she hasn't done before." I stated with bitterness.

Dickson took the cannabis out of his mouth as he moved his way towards the bed. We stand in front of each other and he gently puts the cannabis in front of me. Hesitation came upon my face as I noticed that the substance was place in between us.

"Oh for heaven sakes! Mel, just take it. You need it more than I do tonight." He commented towards me with irritation.

My eyes looked at the thing with a disgusted before grabbing a hold of the drug. Once the substance was in my right hand, I placed the drug through my lips and then I tried my best to inmate Dickon's earlier reactions. My mouth took a puff of the substance before feeling the substance entering my lungs. Instantly the smoke went through my nose and I felt my joints loosening up a bit.

"Shit." I stated in a calm tone as my vision got a bit hazy.

Dickson adds on, "Yeah! This shit takes you to cloud nine faster than sex does."

A chuckle came out through my lips from his comment before feeling my body lose its balance. Dickon sees this action and his hands grabbed a good hold of my body. As soon as he got a hold of me, he sits me down on top of his mattress. Once I was settled, he took a seat next to me and allowed my body to lean against his left arm.

"So you smoke this shit because of lack of sex. Or because you want to be on cloud nine forever." I stated towards him as my eyes slowly wonder around his room.

Instantly my brown eyes caught sight of two brown color suitcases on top of the world globe and felt myself become insecure. I didn't understand why the girl's body felt this way, but it isn't until I heard Dickon's response did I comprehend the situation.

He lets out sigh as he responds back in a serious tone. "Mel. There is something you need to know."

"What is it?" I asked in a dreadful tone.

He spaces out for a moment before blurting out, "I am going to run away."

Automatically my heart started to break from the news. Meanwhile another part of me felt relief. It wasn't clear which emotion affected the body the most but my conscience knew that Melanie was torn between knowing what to say and making sure it didn't hurt Dickon's feelings.

Slowly my body moved away from Dickon's embraced meanwhile my head turns towards his direction with a hurtful expression upon my face.

"D. Please don't leave me." I pleaded.

Dickon took another puff of the cannabis before turning to face me. Disbelief took over his face as my eyes saw the concern gaze hidden behind his dark brown eyes.

"Not without you. I won't." He states softly.

We kept quiet for a second before responding back. "When do you leave?"

Dickon gave me a huge smile from my response as his arms embraced me into a hug. I accept the warm embrace before feeling my eyes close for the second time that night.


	7. Chapter 6: Father's Affair

**Chapter 6: Father's Affair**

My caretaker Elena went into panic mode when she found my unconscious body on the floor of the attic room. I still recall my conscious mind hearing her concerned pleads as her small hands tried to shake my body awake. She was literally crying rivers of tears when I didn't respond back to her sobs. It didn't take long before hearing her dialing on the house phone to register that she was going to call someone for help. Elena continued to sob through the phone until she heard someone answer from the other line.

"Hello." I heard a male voice state through the other line.

Elena took a deep breath in before stating in a fearsome tone. "Mr. Dawson I don't know what happened. I just came back to check up on Ally and then I found her on the floor of the attic unconscious."

My father responded back in a serious tone. "Elena calm down and call 911. Ally's body must have gone into dehydration mode again."

My ears heard Elena taking a deep breath in before stating back in fear. "I'll do my best Mr. Dawson. And I hope you can forgive me."

"Don't worry about it Elena. I know it isn't your fault. Just make the emergency call and I will be on the next flight home." I heard my father state in a serious tone before hearing him hang up.

Elena let out a few sniffles from the situation before hearing her punched in the number 9-1-1.

My heart went out to my caretaker as I felt myself wanting to tell her that everything was alright. But my body couldn't move. As hard as I could to strain it to move, it wouldn't budge. After a few seconds of trying to move, my mind decided to think about Melanie and Dickon.

When I was going through the situation, I didn't know that Melanie was being abused by her mother. Nor did I understand why Dickon was using cannabis as a way to escape their problems. For all I know I felt my heart go out to them.

They have spent many years living in that house, and not only had to deal with their mother being was always drunk. They had to hear about their father's affairs as well.

This whole situation was slowly causing their family to be torn apart. And when I thought I had enough of seeing their family, I couldn't stop from thinking about them.

My heart broke to pieces as the image of Dickon taking the drug came back to my mind.

It was hard to believe that these two had to go through this together. At the time my mind hoped that everything in their lives will change for the better. But today- I know that won't happened.

Once those thoughts passed through my mind, my ears picked up the sound of the ambulance sirens coming closer and that is when everything stayed still. My mind went blank as the darkness consumed my soul for the second time that day.

"_**Places, places, get in your places. Throw on your dress and put on your doll faces". – Melanie Martinez**_

My feet run towards my bedroom as my ears picked up the sound of footsteps going down a set of wooden panels. As I tried to make my way towards my room, my heart quickens its pace when I saw the businessman in the hallway. His once neat white blouse was barely clinging on his bare chest and for a second I felt myself getting sick in the stomach. The tall man blocked me from getting through and for once I felt myself going into panic mode.

"Don't come near me. Please." I heard myself state in a fearful tone.

An evil smile came upon his face as he responded back in a devious tone. "Awe come on Melanie. Be the good girl that you are and let me show you how to be a woman."

Hearing his statement made my breath hitch up as my curious eyes turned into one's with a fearful expression. Soon my eyes open up wide as I saw his body coming closer to mine. Instantly my body started walking backwards as I tried to keep myself in one piece. I thought he would get the message about leaving me alone but he didn't. In the second I continued to walk back until I found myself being encaged into a corner of the hallways.

"Please don't." I stated in a pleading tone as my brown eyes looked into his brown eyes.

His cold hearted eyes stared back into mine with amusement as his strong hands came upon my slim waist. Automatically I felt his face leaning in closer to mine. Instantly, my heart started to race while my head turned to look the other way.

In that moment my brown eyes decided to look up at the ceiling as I tried to understand what was going on. In my seven year old mind I didn't understand what this was going to do. But I knew that something bad was going to happen to me.  
><em><br>What is this man going to do? That _was the only thought going through my mind as I kept my eyes upon him.

My vision began to blur up as I felt a new set of fresh tears coming down my face. I can still remember hearing his sinister laughter as his hands started to brush up the skirt of the dress.

"This will only hurt for a second baby girl." I heard him state through my right ear.

Silent sobs came through my pink colored lips as I felt his strong hands pulling my underwear down. My body went numb as I felt his dirty hands pushing my body up against the nearest wall.

My legs tried to push his body off of me but he was too strong. The businessman's hands pulled my legs apart before feeling him wrap my legs around his buff torso.

"NO! PLEASE STOP!" I stated as I felt his cold fingers spread the lips of my labia.

In that moment I thought for sure this man was going to hurt me. It wasn't until I felt a person's hands tearing us apart, did I felt my tense body relax.

A sob of relief came through my lips as I saw from the corner of my eyes as my doll Dickon pushed the man away from me.

The teenage boy looked furiously at his father before seeing his right fist hit the businessman in gut. This action caused the man to be pushed across the room. His body ran straight into the nearest wall before hearing a cracked sound coming from the impact. The businessman lets out a painful groan from the sudden pain meanwhile his slanted brown eyes closed into slumber. Instantly my shaken slim body goes down towards floor as my own eyes witnessed his body go stiff.

"Is he dead?" I asked frightfully.

Dickon lets out a few puffs of air in and out before responding back through small breaths. "No- just- un- conscious – for- now."

Once I heard his response, I remember my mouth dropping down into a wide O. From the corner of my eyes I saw his body slouch down towards my height as I felt him about to collapse. Another sigh of relief came out from my lips as my white skin tone arms embraced his fragile body into a thank you hug. Dickon's arms wrapped my vulnerable body close to his chest. My ears can still feel his heart settle down as I took a deep breath.

For once in my life I knew that Melanie felt protected in his arms. And it still comes across my mind engrained forever in my memory of the loving words he gave Melanie that night.

Soon tears blurred my vision as he softly whispered the last two sentences of the night into my right ear.

"I will always protect you Melanie. Never forget it!"

A content feeling embraced my heart from his loving words as I felt my mind go back into slumber.


End file.
